


the man beneath the cloth

by whalersandsailors



Category: The Terror (TV 2018)
Genre: Canon Era, M/M, Masturbation, Sexual Fantasy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:22:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25039189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whalersandsailors/pseuds/whalersandsailors
Summary: Cornelius knows men like Lieutenant Irving — and how simple it would be to make him bend.
Relationships: Cornelius Hickey/Lt John Irving, William Gibson/Cornelius Hickey
Comments: 12
Kudos: 31
Collections: Fingerbang #2





	the man beneath the cloth

How the unfortunate episode in the orlop might have gone differently, as imagined by Cornelius the evening after, when he lies half-asleep with one hand caressing the soft skin of his belly:

He has heard stories of Lieutenant Irving’s temper and wonders if the man would have lashed out if he had stayed, would have backhanded the grin from his face and shoved him into Billy’s chest, possibly breaking a rib or two.

If he had stayed, would he have demanded a show, an example of how his own steward and the caulker’s mate were desecrating the Articles and sacred Word all at once, gallivanting and rutting in the orlop like filthy dogs? The lieutenant might require a reenactment, after all, to help him better determine how to properly punish such sodomites.

_Is a kind of self-flagellation_ , he might have asked the lieutenant as he mounted Billy, _to force yourself to watch?_ Irving would scowl, the blood gathering in his cheeks with a flush that made him look half his age.

Such a sight would make Cornelius’s blood rush as well.

His hand slips lower, into the wiry strands of hair where his soft prick is nestled.

_Is it penance that keeps you from participating, sir?_

Irving’s fists would be balled at his sides. With the right words, Cornelius could make Irving’s resolve crumble, like a weed cracking the foundation of a house. With the right provocation, Irving might lash out, his knuckles thumping against Cornelius’s side with a meaty thud, hard enough to bruise.

He curls his finger around himself, sighing as the false memory makes him swell in his hand.

_I can offer you more than that._

Irving might strike him again, might hesitate, think over the suggestion. His eyes would be sickeningly bright. Cornelius knows how dangerous such a glint would be; iceblink beckoning a ship to sail into increasingly treacherous waters.

If Lieutenant Irving had not fled, Cornelius might have finished with Billy and crawled across the frigid, hard floor to paw at the front of Irving’s trousers, mouth open and willing, teeth glinting with — _I can offer you more, so that you don’t spill in your breeches like an overeager boy._

Or perhaps Irving might yank him off Billy, demanding that he take his place, stuttering how the temptation was too great for him. But he would stop Hickey from dropping his drawers and bending over, insisting instead that he has better place for Hickey to put it—

Cornelius stiffens. His seed is hot where it coats his fingers, and he convulses silently in his hammock. The images of Irving and Billy both slip from his mind, and in a haze, he smiles to himself, bringing his fingers to his mouth.

_Yes_ , he tells himself as he licks his hand clean, _Lieutenant Irving is not one to be feared. Push that man close enough to the edge of a hole, and he will jump himself. You’ll see. You’ll see._

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr](https://whalersandsailors.tumblr.com)


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